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Who will save us if not our own selves?

"We are fast approaching that moment prophesied by Joseph Smith when he said: 'Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction. ' "- Ezra Taft BensonThe Constitution A Heavenly Banner, 1986, p.28

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Well I say it all the time (in my class not on this blog)... Pride is the father of all sin. Humility is the cure for pride and it is a funny thing humility - because once you think you have it you've lost it.

The act of sincere thanksgiving is one we should practice often. This time of year, especially in these hardships most face, it is important that we remember the purpose of the holidays before us. First off we have Thanksgiving. Associated with gorging ourselves... All well and good but lets actually use this time of year to be thankful.

Christmas is about the birth of the Savior and all that it implies for our salvation and exaltation. We celebrate the miracle of Christ. As we struggle with the usual barrage of gift giving in economic hardships let us realize that we are being humbled and return to worship our Lord this season and not the merchant.

The New Year is a time of renewal and rebirth. Let us prayerfully make goals that we can realistically keep and write them down. Life is beautiful and miraculous.Albert Einstein said it well, "There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Regarding Thanksgiving I want to quote Abraham Lincoln and his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation:

"No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. … I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens … to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged and fervently implore the interposition of the almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union."

Many men have failed, governments have failed, businesses and creditors have failed. The Lord warned us about relying on the arm of flesh. We must return to the Lord humbly and gratefully.

Regarding our great country. We take for granted the sacred duty we have to elect and promote better leaders. "In a Democracy, the people get the government they deserve" - Alexis de Tocqueville

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is quite often revered as the savior of the US economy by pulling us out of a Great Depression that lasted for nearly 15 years. His socialist laws and policies are the hallmark of the Democrat party today. Some policies were short lived but many continue today and the idea of the welfare state began with him.

Obama is an intelligent man. He must be to graduate from Harvard Law. But intelligence alone doesn't prevent someone from having misguided ideals. In fact many times it is our own intelligence that gets in the way of understanding things greater than ourselves. In Isaiah 55:8-9 we read:

8 ¶ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Government intervention is not going to help us in this present economic crisis nor did it help during the Great Depression. It will HURT us more. The government can't run healthcare better than healthcare administrators and providers. It cannot raise your children better than parents. It cannot educate better than educators. It cannot run business better than business owners and governing boards - just look at the governments bottom line, they don't know how to MAKE money just spend it and give it away.

You may argue that FDR was a great leader and that he was compassionate and did a lot to help the little guy. Well I am not going to argue whether or not he was compassionate or that he was a great leader. Point I want to make was that his welfare state/socialist/liberal policies made the Great Depression last almost TWICE as long as it should have.

A couple quotes from this article are poignant given current and recent past events:

"Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump," said Ohanian, vice chair of UCLA's Department of Economics. "We found that a relapse isn't likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."

The economy was poised for a beautiful recovery, but that recovery was stalled by these misguided policies.

"The fact that the Depression dragged on for years convinced generations of economists and policy-makers that capitalism could not be trusted to recover from depressions and that significant government intervention was required to achieve good outcomes," Cole said. "Ironically, our work shows that the recovery would have been very rapid had the government not intervened."

Unfortunately I fear that Obama and his advisors are far more liberal and socialist than FDR.

Conservatives we need to revamp our party and get our house back in order and unite so that in 2 years we can get more Representatives and Senators in the Halls of Congress.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

2 Corinthians 3:17 states that "...where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

We can also read in Proverbs 14:34 that "Righteousness exalteth a nation."

Try telling that to certaian factions in this great country. Like the Ninth Circuit Court where they wanted to take God off the currency and out of the Pledge of the Allegiance last December.

What a contrast to the First Prayer in Congress September 1774. Where members of Congress prayed on their kness with our frist President.

Contrast what we see in our nation and in our media today with George Washington praying in Valle Forge. A rag tag, underfunded, undertrained, out numbered, group of Revolutionaries took on the most powerful nation on the earth. Our forefathers believed it was God's will and power that made that happen.

George Washington stated. "It is impossible to govern the world without the Bible."

In his Farewell Address Washington said, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports... Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

Lincoln stated, " I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that i had nowhere else to go."

He also said, "God rules this world - It is the duty of nations as well as men to own their dependence upon tge overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow... and to recognize the sublime truth that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord."

This is the First Prayer of Congress:

"Lord our Heavenly Father, High and Mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech thee, on these our American States, who have fled to thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent on Thee, to Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give; take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their Cause and if they persist in their sanguinary purposes, of own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle! Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst Thy people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. all this we ask In the Name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior. Amen."

September 7th, 1774 by Jacob Duche in Carpenters Hall, Philadelphia

This is the artist depiction of that occasion

Where have we strayed as a nation?

J Edgar Hoover said, "Today as never before, America has need for men and women who possess the moral strength and courage of our forefathers - modern-day patriots, with pride in our country and faith in freedom..."

J Reuben Clark spoke out against Socialism and Communism - both Godless beliefs in October 1941 at General Conference.

I have been preaching against Communism for twenty years. I still warn you against it, and I tell you that we are drifting toward it more rapidly than some of us understand, and I tell you that when Communism comes, the ownership of the things which are necessary to feed your families is going to be taken away from us. I tell you freedom of speech will go, freedom of the press will go, and freedom of religion will go.

I have warn you against propaganda and hate. we are in the midst of the greatest exhibition of propaganda that the world has ever seen, and all directed toward one end. Just do not believe all you read."

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

If you are a conservative you have probably heard that we are uncaring and that we lack compassion. The Almighty dollar is all we care about. I am sure that is true of some conservatives but not the vast majority. If you are a liberal you probably think that your caring and compassion requires you to create a welfare state to give aid to those in need.

Well a Welfare State is just a euphamism for a Socialistic State. A Socialistic State just following the Marxist line of thought. Socialism has been creeping in for decades and it is no accident. We still have many liberties in this great land but I fear that we are going to lose a great deal more in the next four years. The soon to be ruling party is having no qualms in speaking openly about the socialist agenda. They have no qualms in telling us that redistribution of wealth is that best idea since sliced bread.

This nation is filled with good hearted people. I am afraid that too many of those good hearted people vote their concious without understanding the decisions they are making. Fact is that their are many people in need in this country but it is not the role of the government to take care of them. It is OUR role as individuals.

We are going to bankrupt this country and its people. The Bush administration was definitely not fiscally conservation unfortunately but the Obama administration will put Bush's spend mentality to shame.

Thomas Jefferson said:

To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must take our choice between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labors and in our amusements.

If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under pretense of caring for them, they will be happy. The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the disposition of public money. We are endeavoring to reduce the government to the practice of rigid economy to avoid burdening the people and arming the magistrate with a patronage of money which might be used to corrupt the principles of our government. . . .